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\u201cIf you build they will come\u201d was a magic and profitable strategy for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams<\/i>. But when President Obama decided to construct a palatial amnesty processing center in Crystal City, Virginia, with hopes that illegal aliens would come, the result has proven costly for American taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Immediately after declaring amnesty in November of 2014, President Obama instructed his administration to lease an 11-story, 280,000 square foot office building in the Virginia suburbs and hire 1,000 employees to begin processing applicants from millions of illegal aliens.<\/span><\/p>\n Never mind that neither the acquisition of space, nor the amnesty edict itself had congressional approval.<\/span><\/p>\n One problem though: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has now upheld an injunction which effectively stops the president\u2019s plans.<\/span><\/p>\n While most of the employee job offers were put on hold or rescinded, taxpayers are still on the hook for $7.8 million in annual lease fees for a colossal complex that is mostly empty. But that\u2019s not all. <\/span>The Washington Post reports<\/a> that, \u201cthe building required about $26 million in start-up costs including $2.7 million for workstation and desktop equipment.\u201d Those are sunk costs and the lease fees are long-term.<\/span><\/p>\n FAIR Suggestion:\u00a0 Given that immigration court backlogs have hit an all-time high of 445,000 cases<\/a> that are overwhelming 233 judges in 58 courts nationwide, perhaps a portion of Obama\u2019s idle amnesty factory should be converted to accommodate more hearing rooms with newly hired judges<\/a>. Effective enforcement and faster removals will reduce the backlogs and reduce the illegal alien population.<\/p>\n